Port Moresby at 'unnecessary risk' as landholders block urgent water works

Urgent repairs to address a pending water crisis in Papua New Guinea's capital have been delayed after traditional landowners set up a blockade, restricting access to a leaking pipeline that supplies more than half the city's water.Engineering reports seen by the ABC say the raw water pipeline is in "active failure" and has a powerful leak ejecting 10 million litres of water every day.If the pipe bursts, Port Moresby would instantly lose more than half its water supply, creating a health and security emergency for the city's 1 million residents, the reports said.Work to repair the leak was scheduled for this weekend after months of detailed planning involving foreign governments, including Australia, and the United Nations.But the company this week announced the repairs would be delayed after traditional landowners set up a blockade, preventing access to the site of the leak.The damaged section of pipeline is located on the outskirts of Port Moresby on customary land owned by the Behori Clan. Members of the Behori Clan seen assisting during previous PNG Water works. (Supplied: Behori Clan)"This blockade is creating great uncertainty and throws all preparations for a shutdown into limbo," Water PNG board chairman Meckles Poya said.He said it put the city at "unnecessary risk" and threatened Port Moresby residents' right to access water and sanitation."We are all in this together and people around the capital city are preparing and supporting Water PNG to get in and fix this problem," he said.Traditional owners calling for compensationFoxie Kaeaka, who represents the Behori Clan that set up the blockade, said landowners wanted compensation for access to the site and were also seeking reparation for ancestral remains unearthed during Water PNG works at a different site in 2024."They have to fairly and adequately compensate the Behori clan for that," Mr Kaeaka said.Foxie Kaeaka says the Behori Clan has been cooperating with Water PNG, but wants outstanding issues addressed. (ABC News: Marian Faa)Documents seen by the ABC show Water PNG paid $1,600 to the clan to conduct burial rituals at the time and a further $5,000 for archaeologists to excavate the site.Water PNG said the landowners were demanding a further $1.6 million in compensation, but Mr Kaeaka said they were open to negotiation with authorities and had not settled on a figure.He said the Behori Clan had maintained a close and cooperative relationship with Water PNG over many years and had helped originally identify the leaking pipeline.Ancestral remains were unearthed on Behori Clan land during Water PNG works in 2024. (Supplied: Behori Clan)"We are not saying 'no' to the repair. All along we have been cooperating with Water PNG," Mr Kaeaka said."All we are saying, all we are demonstrating, is that we have an issue and you haven't attended to us."Port Moresby 'at needless additional risk'Water PNG said it wanted a peaceful resolution to the dispute but could exercise powers under PNG law to access the site without landowners' permission."The National Water Supply and Sanitation Act is clear that Water PNG has full authority to access the pipeline," Mr Poya said."Water PNG has undertaken meticulous planning and already delayed the repairs so that additional equipment and expertise can be brought in to ensure the success of the repair work, but this blockade is now placing Port Moresby at needless additional risk."The site of a major pipeline leak on the outskirts of Port Moresby. (ABC News: Marian Faa)Ahead of the scheduled emergency repairs, Australia had provided technical expertise and specialised equipment had been urgently transported from Australia, China and the Netherlands.Water availability was expected to dramatically reduce while repairs took place over three days, with water rationing schedules in place across the city.Elective surgeries had been put on hold, hotel bookings had been limited and police were gearing up to manage the outage, Water PNG said in a statement.Last month, the ABC revealed the leaking pipeline was just one in a series of major water issues facing Port Moresby due to decades of underinvestment in infrastructure maintenance and upgrades."Port Moresby's water supply system is now operating under extreme and unsustainable risk, with multiple critical assets … at or beyond end-of-life," a Water PNG report from November 2025 states."These critical assets have suffered protracted degradation and are showing signs of imminent failure."The Behori Clan is seeking reparation for ancestral remains unearthed during Water PNG works at a different site in 2024. (Supplied: Behori Clan)The report warned the city's water system had almost no redundancy or storage buffer and a major failure was likely to rapidly reduce water supply to the city with cascading health, security and economic consequences.Major repairs and upgrades to the city's water infrastructure were likely to cost around $700 million, the report estimated.It also said Water PNG was effectively insolvent, with the PNG government owing more than $80 million in unpaid water bills to the cash-strapped utility.